Not bad at all for a team that was an afterthought before the season.
The Syracuse Orange aren’t any strangers to an NCAA Selection Show. The Orange men’s soccer team went into the day as ACC Champions, with the ACC Coach of the Year and the number four RPI in the country, trying to see exactly who they’d be facing in the NCAA Tournament. By beating previous number three, Virginia, last week, the Orange gained a spot and were named the number three overall seed in the tournament, their highest in program history.
By getting one of the top four seeds, the Orange will host all their matches until the College Cup, which is being played in Cary, North Carolina this year. Conveniently the place the Orange just won the ACC Championship. This will be Syracuse’s eighth NCAA Tournament berth, with an overall record of 8-5-2 in the tournament. The Orange reached the College Cup back in 2015.
Beyond the Orange, seven other ACC squads made the tournament for the College Cup.
Kentucky Bracket
- Unseeded – Pittsburgh – Host Cleveland State
- Unseeded – Louisville – Hosts Western Michigan
- Unseeded – North Carolina – Hosts High Point
- Unseeded – Wake Forest – Hosts Ohio State
- No. 4 – Virginia – Host winner of Elon and Marshall
Washington Bracket
- No. 3 – Syracuse – Host winner of Penn and Rutgers
- No. 6 – Clemson – Host winner of UCLA and California Baptist
- No. 7 – Duke – Host winner of Denver and San Diego
The Orange will host the winner of Penn and Rutgers at Syracuse Soccer Stadium on Sunday, November 20, with the time to be set after the matchups are set as well. That quarter of the bracket also includes Vermont who the Orange drew away this season as well as Cornell who beat the Orange, Russell Shealy’s former Maryland Terrapins and the Clemson Tigers, who Syracuse has already beat twice this season.